Fortnite provided an update in relation to its competitive play. According to the Fortnite Team, the first priority is creating a fun game that is inclusive to all players. The second is to be able to evolve the game quick enough to ensure that the experience remains fresh. Finally, as with any game, it needs to provide great entertainment.
In terms of competitive play, Epic stressed it is important to have a good balance of giving a solid exprtience for competitive players while being the same game that casual players play and love.
Siphon / Material Change
The Team revealed that considering the pressure present in competition, the play style is different from regular play. In particular, there is less aggression in the early part of the game, resulting in a rather crowded end game with many players resorting to turtling. In response, Epic introduced the Siphon mechanic. With the Siphon, aggressiveness is rewarded while at the same time increasing the entertainment value.
When this change was introduced, players enjoyed the experience of getting health and shield boosts for eliminating opponents. However this had the unintended effect of a large number of players becoming frustrated since they would encounter high-skilled players having full health along with full shields. Games became too intense, and were no longer enjoyable.
The result was that the team removed the Siphon mechanic and material changes from the Fortnite’s core modes.
Stretched Resolution and Field of View (FOV)
A number of competitive payers have requested that the game offer an FOV slider in order to improve visibility in vertical end-game build battles. There has also been frustration when the stretched resolution was first removed.
The Fortnite Team has found out that every time a feature is introduced that offers gameplay advantage, players tend to utilize it in order to increase their chances of success. Players do this even if it results in the game looking or feeling worse. This has lowered the entertainment experience for other Fortnite players.
Currently, the default FOV is 80 and this was selected to accommodate:
- Varied engagement ranges, favoring a low FOV and thus a closer view of enemies.
- Minimizing potential motion-sickness in players further away from their screen. The further a player’s head moves from the center of the in-game field of view, the more negative the reaction.
- Minimizing jarring transitions when aiming down sights.
- Visual fidelity.
- Performance.
Game Evolution
The Team also looked into the goals it wanted players to accomplish. While special events bring needed freshness to the game, it had the result of affecting certain stable elements that competitive players have been accustomed to. Considering that Fortnite continues to evolve, ensuring that game play and tournaments are fresh helps grow the player and viewership base. This is the reason why the Team has stabilized gameplay well before the Fortnite World Cup Finals.
Bugs
The Fortnite Team revealed that it is currently resolving or actively tracking these issues:
- Fortnite World Cup Online Opens points tracked incorrectly in client (visual only).
- Ghost shots: player clearly shoots another player, but no damage is done.
- Trap can sometimes be placed halfway through a tile - Fixed in v8.50.
- The Baller is destroyed if the driver exits the vehicle in a confined space (e.g. 1x1) - Fixed in v8.40.
